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District Judge Amy S. Anderson received the 2023 Judge Robert W. Heaton Award in September during the Kentucky District Judges College in Bowling Green. Judge Karen A. Thomas (ret.), who was the 2015 award recipient and among the judges who nominated Judge Anderson, presented the award.
Contact: Jamie Neal, Public Information Specialist
jamieneal@kycourts.net, Office: 502-573-2350 ext. 50033, Cell: 859-294-7835
For Immediate Release
FRANKFORT, Ky., Nov. 15, 2023 – The Kentucky District Judges Association has named District Judge Amy S. Anderson as the 2023 recipient of the Judge Robert W. Heaton Award. Judge Anderson has presided in the 11th Judicial District of Green, Marion, Taylor and Washington counties as its district judge for 16 years.
Several of Judge Anderson’s fellow district judges nominated her for the award, and the Heaton Award Committee made up of District Court judges selected her as the recipient.
Judge Karen A. Thomas (ret.) was among those who nominated Judge Anderson. She presented the award to her at the Kentucky District Judges College in September in Bowling Green.
“For those of us who knew Bob Heaton, he would have agreed that this year’s recipient is the type of judge he would have been honored to call a colleague and a friend,” Judge Thomas said.
Judge Thomas served as Campbell County chief district judge and received the Heaton Award in 2015.
Judge Anderson “embodies the spirit of the Judge W. Heaton Award: dedication to the Court of Justice, to friends, family and to the people of Kentucky,” she said, listing some of the many Judicial Branch committees Judge Anderson serves on and her activities on behalf of her community.
She is so well thought of that she received one of the highest ratings during the most recent Kentucky Bar Association judicial survey by attorneys, Judge Thomas said.
The attorneys who appear in front of Judge Anderson, the litigants in her courtroom and the Judicial Branch staff she works with all know that Judge Anderson is “fair, diligent, hardworking and a true student of the law,” Judge Thomas said. “Amy is the colleague we all hope to be. She’s the one you can call when you need some judicial guidance when you step off the bench, and she’s also the one you call at night when you need somebody’s ear to bend or a shoulder to lean on.”
“On top of all of these activities and these volunteer efforts and her judicial work, Amy was an incredible daughter to a wonderful mother. She is an amazing wife and an amazing mom to her son and, of course, a true friend,” Judge Thomas said.
The award is named for Nelson County District Judge Robert W. Heaton, who passed away suddenly in 2012 while serving as KDJA president. This is the ninth year the KDJA has presented the award to a sitting or retired district judge who has demonstrated enduring friendship and esprit among colleagues and judicial leadership. The recipient has contributed to the commonwealth by volunteering in civic organizations, has promoted the image of the judiciary and the legal profession, and has a reputation for integrity, mentorship, scholarship and professionalism.
Judge Anderson said she was “very honored and humbled” to receive the award in the name of Judge Heaton, who was her mentor.
“He was a great man, and it’s very special to receive this award,” she said.
Fayette County District Court Judge John Lindsay Tackett is chairman of the Robert W. Heaton Award Committee. The other members are District Judges Judge John S. "Jack" Kelley V (Nelson County) and Judge Henria Bailey-Lewis (Clay, Jackson and Leslie counties).
Judge Anderson was first elected to the bench in 2006. She volunteers to serve as a Drug Court judge for her four-county jurisdiction and served as a member of the Chief Justice’s Drug Task Force Testing Committee, the Kentucky Court of Justice Judicial Workload Assessment Committee and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ Judicial Engagement Workgroup. She serves on the Judicial Conduct Commission, the Kentucky Bar Association Wellness Committee, the Administrative Office of the Courts’ Court Facilities Standards Committee, the Kentucky Continuing Judicial Education Commission and the KCOJ Electronic Court Subcommittee. She is co-chair of the District Judges Education Committee, past secretary for the Kentucky District Judges Association and a director for District Judges for a Better Commonwealth.
She volunteers with the American Red Cross and the Summer Backpack Feeding Program and in many capacities at Campbellsville Baptist Church, including women’s ministry and Operation Christmas Child. Judge Anderson is a member of the Kentucky Bar Foundation and is a past chair and board member with the Campbellsville Child Development Center and past publicity chair and board member with Taylor County Distinguished Young Women/Junior Miss.
Judge Anderson received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Kentucky and her juris doctor degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law (now the University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law). She was engaged in private practice at the Campbellsville firm of Bertram & Cox and served as an assistant commonwealth’s attorney and assistant county attorney.
About District Court Judges
Kentucky has 114 District Court judgeships and 59 judicial districts. District judges are elected on a nonpartisan basis and serve four-year terms. District Court is the court of limited jurisdiction and handles juvenile matters, city and county ordinances, misdemeanors, violations, traffic offenses, probate of wills, arraignments, felony probable cause hearings, small claims involving $2,500 or less, civil cases involving $5,000 or less, voluntary and involuntary mental commitments, and cases relating to domestic violence and abuse.
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